Renewal
by Reyavie
Summary: Can a human wither away without freedom? Or is there something more important?


AN - Holiday request fic for Cymoril Avalon. This is a one shot so no more chapters. And pardon the OOCness XD

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all from Inuyasha. Unless someone wishes to gift me with it for X-mas? No…?

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It was spring. She could recognize the smell of the fresh pines in his clothing, the gentle touch of the streams he had passed by on his way. There was the touch of roses and tulips, petals lost in his hair, the fragrance of the winds in his every step and movement. 

Kagome knew he didn't understand why she welcomed his visits. He didn't understood and she couldn't explain it. It wasn't worth it.

Her cave was now closed once more, the stone he always pushed against the door firmly in its place, as if a human girl like her could move it at all. And he was looking at her again. He always did that. Stared. Followed her every movement as if it was something wonderful and awe inspiring. It wasn't. A prisoner or a fish swimming in a bowl, she knew not which one she was.

She was tuned to his presence, knew the second he would touch her stone, when his fingers would touch the rough surface to allow the outside air to enter the small space. If she was lucky, the sunlight would be able to peek in. That could happen when he visited her just before the sunrise. When he was feeling generous.

"Why do you watch me?" Bankotsu didn't start, didn't move or even reacted to her words. She was sure she would have been more than surprised if he had done anything like it.

If an owner acknowledged its pet, would that pet remain as such?

Spring was a beautiful time, a time for joy, for happiness, for her to dream about her future. Kagome sat down in the stone floor, crossing her legs beneath her as a princess - or the girl she once had been - and closed her eyes. His scent was in the air, spring and warmth and everything she missed, gently overtaking the entire space she now called home.

Her eyes closed and she dreamt.

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It was Summer. He had been close to salt of the sea, the sweet aroma of the fruits he had brought to her unexpectedly. Kagome hadn't asked him the reason. That was another question she knew it would remain unanswered. It didn't matter.

He hadn't come for two weeks, fourteen days in which her stone hadn't been opened, hadn't budged to allow her a touch of freedom. Small trinkets had been broken in the tensest moments, thrown against the walls when the loneliness had hit hard. Far from her to explain what claustrophobia was or remind him of her weakness.

But Bankotsu had returned and brought with him the whisper of the sun against the fields, harsh warmth that had reddened his skin and forced the impromptu bath, testified by the drops sliding down his skin.

"Why were you away?" Her jailor sat, shaking his dark hair gently and outright ignoring her. He seemed tired, that was easy to notice, but far from her to open her mouth and comment about it. Concern wasn't welcomed, caring wasn't welcomed, his pet's words were ignored.

So Kagome stayed silent, watching carefully as he resumed his analysis.

Summer was a time for adventure. A time to meet new places, new objectives and wonderful dreams. It was time for the flowers of the sacred tree to bloom and bless the temple she had been born. The darkness seemed oppressing as she remembered, just like it had been the past days…but he was there. He was there with all which was outside, his scent floating down to her, enveloping and comforting her. He was there and darkness wasn't her only companion.

Eyes closed slowly but she didn't sleep.

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It was Autumn. It was rain and the fragrance of the wet earth following his footsteps, just as present the anger in his countenance. His steps were loud enough for her to feel against the floor, in her usual place against the fireplace. A gift for her built just a month before.

He was so angered. It had happened far more than once lately, clouding her cave, filling the space with the tissue of her nightmares. Darkness didn't scare her anymore, his anger did. Moving, drawing his attention was an error then, enough to make her fear he left never to return.

But Bankotsu sat in his usual corner, stormy eyes following her slightest moves set in a stony expression, muscles rippling underneath his clothing due to some unnamed tension.

"Don't ask." Her lips closed before she could utter any word, forming the rather inane question which would tempt his temper and bring it down on her with little to no mercy. It had been three months and about thirteen days – she hadn't been counting – since he had spent one word on her. It would probably take an equal amount of time for him to consider her worthy of such blessing.

He really was an ass, no matter how much she missed his silent presence against the corner of her prison. 

Kagome wished she could ask. Ask why he kept her, why he fed her, why he sat next to her, hours and hours to no end, without uttering one word. She wished she could understand him but a little, to know why his eyes would follow her form as she ate, to learn what drove him back to that space where none would wait for him bar her.

To understand him, she needed to ask. But he didn't wish understanding.

Autumn was nostalgic, a time for remembrance and rest. It was time for her to put back everything she had been taken from and cherish what little she had been gifted with. He had returned to her, leaves in his hair and storm in his movements. He was there with the contradiction of autumn, the touch of warmth and pure ice that made him who he was. He was there and she wasn't alone anymore.

Her eyes turned to him, staring back, answering his analyzing gaze with one of her own. 

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_It is Winter._

She never asks anything anymore. There was a time when it wouldn't bother me – The girl screamed, talked, enquired too much for her own good – and I would gladly threaten her to gain silence. Her voice would mean questions and questions would drive answers to my mind I wished not to know.

But she's silent now and I'm not pleased. Yes, laugh all you want wherever you are Jakotsu. You always did say I was never pleased with anything I had. I thought that was the beauty of it, the way there was always something to aim for, to live for.

But she's not speaking. Not even to ask why the stone cast against the cave's entrance is pulled back or even why I am picking her up from her usual resting place.

Stupid girl. This is what she wanted, isn't it? I don't even know why I'm bothering if she stays frozen as a dead weight.

She's not dead. She isn't. I can feel her breathing.

A flower withers without the sunlight, weakens moment by moment when water is taken away from it. I never knew humans could react in the same way, even after living so many years as one. No one took the light from me.

I am not sorry.

Every time I came back, the girl smiled. Even angry, nervous, injured – all consequences of those friends of hers – it didn't matter. She welcomed me in the same way. Smiling. That smile withered away with time…

I don't want it back.

The sun is shining as we step outside. Her eyes always shone more brightly when I arrived in the morning – no, I didn't choose this time because of that – and maybe, just maybe, she can return this way. Maybe her eyes will shine again and her smile will return.

"Bankotsu…?" Words. Sun and light and air, cold as the ice underneath my feet. But she's speaking. And her face is against my chest, shying away from the light as a small child searching for protection.

"Can we go inside?" Kagome. Her name is Kagome. "I'm a little cold." She's not lying, I know she isn't. Her body is trembling against mine, hands closed and skin frozen.

"Please?" I'm sorry. I am sorry…humans whither away like flowers. But why is she smiling again? Why is she asking again? Why is she back?

The stale air of darkness welcomes us once more, a distinct feeling I haven't had much in the past ever since I left my house forever. It feels like home and it makes no sense.

"Talk to me?" 

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It was winter. It was cold and icy, the whisper of the winds and song of the trees, the one time when all came together to survive and live towards the future. He had returned once again, brought her life and gifted her with something she had lost all hope in receiving. 

Winter was renewal. Time to forget and live again.

AN – Review please!!!


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